D.C. is second worst city for singles

Live in D.C.? This might be your relationship status. (Facebook screenshot)

Jamie Slater, special to WTOP.com

WASHINGTON – Singles Awareness Day may be a more appropriate name for Friday’s holiday in the District, at least according to Facebook.

Washington, D.C. is ranked the second least likely city for forming romantic relationships, based on data gathered by the Facebook and reported by The Wall Street Journal. They gathered data for the top 50 cities with the most Facebook users in the U.S.

Last October, Facebook measured the number of people with “single” relationship statuses at the beginning of the month and those who changed their statuses by the end of the month. With 201 million users in the U.S. and Canada, Facebook has a wealth of data at its fingertips about these personal details that people choose to share and frequently update.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, residents in Colorado Springs, Colo. form couples at a higher rate than any other city.

When the cities were ranked for highest percentage of single people, Washington came in at number 12. Detroit has the most and, again, Colorado Springs has the least.

In terms of the ratio of single females to single males, D.C. comes out in the middle at 29th highest.

But D.C. is not alone. As the Wall Street Journal reports, other big cities with highly educated residents are ranked similarly. San Francisco has the lowest couples rate of all 50 cities, and New York, L.A. and Miami are close behind. These cities also have some of the highest percentages of singles.

Coupling isn’t just something in the water though, according to the Journal.

Strong military and religious communities might partially explain the case in Colorado Springs. Many of the other high-ranking cities are also in the South — Louisville, Ky. and the Texan cities of El Paso, Fort and San Antonio are in the top five — which may be due to age, education levels and ethnic makeup.

Cities near the D.C. area have slightly better rates, but not much. Baltimore has the 35th lowest rate of singles where D.C. is 48th and Richmond is 25th.